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Vale announces the park territory project at Córrego do Feijão and discloses an overview of actions in Brumadinho in 2019


WEBWIRE

Following a process of listening to the main demands from the community at Córrego do Feijão, Vale discloses an urban requalification project named park-territory. It is a concept that includes actions for infrastructure improvement (refurbishment, paving and urbanizing of streets, housing and structures), economic reactivation, and development of local tourism, as well as care for the memory of victims of the dam 1 breach.

The proposal aims to leave a legacy for the community, as explained by the company’s director for Recovery and Development, Marcelo Klein.

The park territory proposed for Córrego do Feijão meets two objectives, primarily. The first is human, aimed at recovering the main region affected by the breach and allowing families to resume their routines. The second is to generate local economic development.

One of the action focuses seeks to boost tourism at Córrego do Feijão. The proposal is to convert the region into an ecological destination, helping to develop this aptitude. Thus, an Urbanization Plan is being implemented for the central area, adding value tourism. Public facilities will be refurbished, after the required approvals, including improvement of the road infrastructure.

The complete project was based on actively listening to residents, who suggested enhancements and new work fronts.

The next phase is the design of executive projects that are based on the local community values, climate, hydrography, local vegetation, fauna, and flora. The work fronts will comply with the dynamics of the community. All aspects of the plan were established by mutual agreement with the families. The proposal established that the first actions be completed and delivered to the community by December 2020.

Monthly Repair Report

Vale is striving to fully repair the damage caused by the dam 1 breach, including social and environmental actions aimed at recovering affected municipalities, gearing efforts towards close dialogue with communities and the Government.

The company continues to support actions by the Fire Department and Civil Police in their search for the 13 missing persons (seven direct employees, five third-party employees, and one community member). To date, 257 bodies have been identified (121 direct employees, 114 third-party employees, and 19 residents).

With regard to individual and labor indemnities, the company has already undersigned over 4,000 agreements, fully indemnifying respective families. In these actions, funds amounting to almost R$2 billion have already been paid out.

These persons are provided with the Full Assistance Program for Affected People, which aims to support the families, allowing them to plan their future. The project offers financial planning and education; support for the purchase of real estate; technical assistance to rural activities, microentrepreneurs, and activities for supplemental income; in addition to social monitoring. So far, 650 persons have voluntarily joined the program.

With regard to emergency aid, on the 28th Vale approved its extension for 10 months. The company understands that the agreement’s extension emphasizes its commitment to repair the damage caused by the dam breach in a swift and comprehensive manner, with actions that reestablish the affected municipalities socially and environmentally based on a close dialogue with communities and the Government.

The agreement was ratified by the 6th Public Finance Court and counted on participation of the Prosecution Office of the State of Minas Gerais, the Federal Prosecution Office, the Public Defender’s Office of the State of Minas Gerais, the Federal Attorney’s Office, the Attorney’s Office of the State of Minas Gerais, the Federal Public Defender’s Office, and the State of Minas Gerais.

The new terms provide for:
- Maintenance of full benefits to the persons who proved to live on the date of the breach in the communities of Córrego do Feijão, Parque da Cachoeira, Alberto Flores, Cantagalo, Pires and on the banks of Ferro-Carvão stream, in addition to those persons who currently participate in the following support programs organized by Vale, such as housing, social assistance, agricultural assistance, and assistance to local producers;
- Other persons not included in the above criteria, and who receive full emergency payments approved in February 2019, will receive 50% of the emergency aid.

The above-mentioned amounts will be temporarily paid as a emergency indemnity and will be deducted and considered as a possible future collective indemnity.

Over 106,000 persons receive emergency aid on a monthly basis. According to the Federal Prosecution Office, emergency relief was paid out to 150 indigenous persons in 46 families from Pataxó indigenous community, who live on the banks of Paraopeba river.

In assurance of the emotional health of the population in Brumadinho, the company allocated R$32 million to the Municipal Department of Health and Social Assistance. Over 18,000 medical, psychological and social services have been provided so far. In addition to healthcare, part of the affected residents were transferred to houses rented by Vale. Currently, 100 families live in this temporary housing.

Since the dam breach, Vale has maintained help centers for the population of Brumadinho and region, with specialized teams to care for the affected population. Over 50,000 requests have been received, of which 96% have already been responded and 3% are usual services.

In addition, 596 families are being monitored by the Family Referral Program in order to ensure assistance to those people directly affected by the breach.

Vale transferred R$382 million to public authorities. This amount includes transfers to the City Government of Brumadinho and to ten other mining municipalities in Minas Gerais that had their revenues adversely affected by the interruption of activities, plus amount for purchasing vehicles and equipment as well as professional training for the Military Police, Fire Department, Civil Police, and Civil Defense of Minas Gerais.

Recovery of Paraopeba River

Vale has been working on the environmental recovery of Paraopeba river and its surroundings. Its efforts are focused on both tailings containment and water treatment, having already treated and returned 3 billion liters of water to the river by means of two River Water Treatment Plants.

In Brumadinho, three major containment structures are being built (two hydraulic filtration barriers and one dike), in addition to 25 small stabilizing barriers to contain sediment. A metallic pile curtain was also installed in order to contain tailings and clean the area where the highest concentration of tailings is located. With this measure, solids are no longer carried downstream by the river since May.

Vale has also been dredging tailings from the affected stretch of Paraopeba river, which is essential for its recovery. By means of this action, the material accumulated in the river’s silted area is removed and dehydrated in geotextile bags. The water drained from these bags is pumped to a treatment plant and returned clean to Paraopeba river. Dredging activities are planned to continue until 2020, beginning at the confluence of Ferro-Carvão stream and Paraopeba river, and extending almost 2km downstream.

Water Supply

With the purpose of ensuring water supply to the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, construction works of the new water supply system at Paraopeba river has already begun, and it is expected to be complete by September 2020. The construction activity is carried out almost 12 km upstream of the currently interrupted water withdrawal facility – from the Sanitation Company of Minas Gerais (Copasa, Companhia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais) – in the rural area of Brumadinho. The pipeline system will connect the new water withdrawal point to the existing utility company. This new system will provide the same flow rate – 5,000 liters per second, which has been interrupted – and will comply with the same engineering procedures.

In October, Vale started construction works on the new pipeline system at Pará river, located between Pará de Minas and Conceição do Pará, in the midwest region of the state. This structure provides a water flow rate of 1 million liters per hour – the same rate collected by the municipality at Paraopeba river before the breach. The project is expected to be complete by July 2020, when it will be delivered to the City Government of Pará de Minas and operated by the utility company Águas de Pará de Minas.

So far, 22 artesian wells have been drilled in the cities supplied by Paraopeba basin, ensuring a supply of drinking water to the local communities. These wells are supplementary to the daily emergency distribution of water by almost 100 water trucks. Over 500 million liters of water have already been delivered.

Monitoring of Paraopeba River

On December 2019 Vale signed an Agreement (TC, Termo de Compromisso) with the Prosecution Office of Minas Gerais (MPMG, Ministério Público de Minas Gerais) transferring all activities related to monitoring of water resources and sediment along Paraopeba river basin and São Francisco river to the Water Management Institute of Minas Gerais (Igam, Instituto Mineiro de Gestão das Águas). Thus, Vale will bear the costs incurred with the hiring of an independent technical audit that will be responsible for overseeing the transfer process, scheduled to last 26 months. Until then, the audit will be responsible for overseeing the monitoring activities carried out by the company. All other costs related to the Agreement shall be borne by Vale. After this period, Vale will continue to pay for monitoring activities for ten years.

Since January, Vale has been monitoring the water quality of Paraopeba river. Currently, 90 monitoring points cover an area of more than 2,600km along the river, including ten tributaries and São Francisco river. To date, more than four million water, soil, and sediment analyses have been carried out in more than 31,000 samples. This activity includes analyzes of several parameters, such as the presence of metals in water, pH, and turbidity.

The tests carried out during the dry season pointed to a reduced concentration of the analyzed elements. Studies will be continued during the rainy season. The analysis is conducted by two specialized independent laboratories, involving almost 250 professionals.

Animal Care

Vale maintains a structure for rescuing, identifying, caring, and sheltering domestic and wild animals from the affected areas. In addition to a veterinary hospital with first aid and diagnostic equipment, the company maintains the fauna shelter farm in Brumadinho, which assists 865 animals. Of these, 340 have already been adopted, returned to their guardians, or returned to their natural habitat.

Dam Safety and De-characterization

Vale is striving to eliminate the risks of all its upstream dams. In November, Vale completed the de-characterization of the 8B dam, located at Águas Claras Mine, in Nova Lima – the first of the nine upstream dams to be de-characterized. The structure has no raising structures and does not serve as a dam anymore. The area was revegetated with 1,100 native plant seedlings, reintegrating it with the environment.

Before the de-characterization of the other dams, Vale is working to increase the Factor of Safety of these structures by lowering water level through pumping, drilling wells (to avoid groundwater) and building canals to divert rainwater.

For further information on Vale’s works and actions, go to www.vale.com/repair.


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